KTR urges Centre to scrap cess on fuel to reduce prices

Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Working President K.T. Rama Rao on Thursday demanded that the Centre scrap the cess on petroleum products to provide relief to people by reducing the prices.

Rama Rao said that if the Centre scrap the cess, the prices of petrol and diesel can be reduced to Rs 70 and Rs 60 per litre, respectively.

Rama Rao, who is also Telangana Industries and Commerce Minister, was reacting to the Centre blaming governments of Telangana and five other states for not reducing Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel.

Speaking in Lok Sabha, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that the states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Jharkhand have not reduced VAT on fuel. He said if the governments of these states cut the VAT, the prices of petrol and diesel will reduce for consumers. People in these states have to pay more because their state governments continue to levy heavy VAT, he said.